Page 52 of The King's Man 3

The wyvern lands at his feet, covering its head with its wings in a swift subjugation.

Quin’s leg gives way; he stumbles and catches himself on the nearest tree. I’m at his side in an instant. His skin is flushed, his breathing tight, but his gaze is steady as it meets mine.

“You’re here,” I murmur, grabbing hold of his arm to steady him.

His gaze flickers to my hand and lingers. “My horse couldn’t make it this far. I heard the wyvern screech.”

“I mean, you’rehere.”

Bastion laughs from where he’s lounging in relief beside the pool. “He’s been following us a while.”

Quin grimaces.

It was him I’d heard in the woods. I glance at Bastion. He’d known. “Why didn’t you show yourself sooner?”

“I intended to. Until...” his gaze lands like a hammer behind me.

“What?” Bastion says. “Harmless goading. I hoped you’d charge out in a fit.”

I frown. “That’s what that was about?” Quin wouldn’t rise to that. Unless—

I inch closer to him and lower my voice. “You didn’t worry I’d forget your brother?”

Quin’s jaw twitches, and Bastion’s laugh has the wyvern shaking its wings.

“You lost in the end,” Bastion says.

I snap at him. “Be thankful. You’re alive.”

He shuts up with an arched brow my way.

I ignore him and move back towards the subdued wyvern, sending out magic to read its bodily condition. Male. The blood in his veins is pulsing hard, the pressure high, very high. Not just from our fight.

I probe deeper. Strong spells have been used on this animal. It’s like... the wyverns from the royal city.Exactlylike the wyverns from the royal city, but...

I drop to my knees and crawl closer. The pearly scales are cracked and brittle at the edges. A miracle he could transform at all.

In desperate defence of his territory, afraid we were there to hurt it again, crazed with disease, he fought with the last of his strength.

He shifts with a pained whine, like a call to a mother to come find him, help him.

I swallow. “This is one your uncle modified. Those spells backfired inside its body. The body has tried to fight it, repair itself, but it’s triggered the spell to adapt. It’s become a toxin. When wyverns become one with water...”

“That’s how this disease is spreading?” Bastion asks.

There’s a heavy weight to Quin’s silence behind us.

My teeth gnash hard, and I swallow a knot of anger. “He’s in agony. We need to put him out of his misery.”

“Can you make him fall asleep?” Quin murmurs, gaze softening on the whining animal.

“I’m exhausted of remedies. I’d need to consume more.”

A whip flashes before my face, slicing down. The wyvern doesn’t see it coming, or doesn’t have the strength to fight if he does. This time, the writhing animal doesn’t burst into water, but falls lifeless, decapitated. Bluish blood pools onto the earth.

No one speaks for long moments.

A brutal death, but there’s kindness in its speed. I push to my feet and inspect the glasslike pool. “There are others in there. We need to get them out and away from the water source. Find somewhere close for a cairn—somewhere on stone; we have to protect the woods and stream from the toxin.”

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